Chuck Penson's Amazing New Book about Heathkit Amateur Products

 

I was very pleased to read that Chuck Penson WA7ZZE was publishing a book about Heathkit's amateur radio products.  His book is a really great guide, providing a lot of fascinating information, stuff that even those of us who have spent decades with pieces of Heath gear didn't know.  For example, I never knew that an after-market dial had been available for the HW-101.   And I didn't know that the Indian names used for many of the Heath rigs (Comanche, Apache, etc.) resulted from a suggestion from Roger Mace's wife, who was Native American. 

Chuck's book arrived just as I was putting my DX-40 novice transmitter back on the air after almost 50 years.  TRGHS.  Who knew that there were TWO versions of the DX-40?  I didn't, but Chuck did, and his book explained how to spot the difference (flashlight through the side vents -- I have the very slightly more modern version). 

When I opened the book for my first peek inside, the page opened to the QF-1 Q multiplier.  I immediately felt guilty about having brutally cannibalized several (well maybe more than several) of these things.  But right there in the text Chuck repeats my justification for the carnage:  He notes that the tuning cap has a nice 14:1 turns ratio.  Exactly.  How could I NOT pull those beautiful variable caps out of that old regen device, for re-use in superhet receivers and BITX transceivers?  

This is a wonderful book that belongs in the workshop libraries of all those who have used and loved Heathkits over the years.   

Order yours here:  

https://wa7zze.com/amateur-radio

Thanks a lot Chuck for making such a great contribution to the radio art and to ham radio literature.